Sports plays an important role in the work of UNICEF. This site has been developed by the sports for development unit to provide and share up to date information about UNICEF’s sports related work in countries around the world, and to focus on UNICEF’s many sports - related partners. It contains the latest in sports for development programmes and initiatives, reports, publications, fact sheets and stories from the field offices.
Why sports and play
Sport, recreation and play are a fun way to learn values and lessons that will last a life time. They promote friendship and fair play. They teach team work, discipline, respect, and the coping skills necessary to ensure that children develop into caring individuals. They help prepare young people to meet the challenges they will face and to take leadership roles within their communities.
UNICEF recognises the critical role of sport and physical activity in children’s lives. Not only are sports and recreation a means to achieve UNICEF’s core objectives, they are goals in themselves in that they ensure every child’s right to play. Every child has a right to a healthy start in life; every girl and boy, a right to be educated; and every adolescent to have ample opportunity to develop into caring and involved citizens.
Regular physical activity and play are essential for physical, mental, psychological and social development from early childhood through adolescence. Involvement in sports can boost children’s health, improve academic performance and help reduce crime. Sports has particular benefits for girls by breaking down gender stereotypes. Sport festivals and games are used to educate families about health issues, including the need for vaccination and HIV/AIDS prevention. Sport is an effective way to reach children and adolescents who are often excluded and discriminated against, including orphans, children with disabilities, former child soldiers, refugee and displaced children, sexually exploited children and children from indigenous communities.
With our partners, UNICEF is incorporating opportunities for sport, recreation and play into country programmes to reach children, families and communities around the world. In countries at peace and at war, these activities are being used to promote good health, encourage girls' education, create child-friendly spaces and warn about the harmful effects of smoking, alcohol and drug abuse. They are educating young people on the dangers of HIV/AIDS and empowering them with the life skills necessary to protect themselves.
Sport and recreation programs are creating environments that are safe and promote stable relationships between children and adults, and among children themselves. They are providing children of all ages with opportunities to express themselves, to contribute their voice, opinions and ideas, and to become agents for change. They are helping to build communities and are contributing to a more just and peaceful society.
In October 2002, the United Nations Secretary General convened an Inter-Agency Task Force to review activities involving sports within the United Nations system. The task force, co-chaired by Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director and Mr. Adolf Ogi, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Sports, produced a report titled Sport for Development and Peace: Towards the Millennium Development Goals. The report concludes that sport is a powerful and cost effective way to advance the Millennium Development Goals, the common agenda agreed by the world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit and the World Fit for Children. In November 2003, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 58/5on the role of sport as a means to promote health, education, development and peace, proclaiming 2005 as the International Year for Sports and Physical Education.
UNICEF’s Executive Director Carol Bellamy says “UNICEF’S vision is clear. We see boys and girls running around new and rehabilitated play grounds. We see schools providing physical education as part of their daily curricular and spaces where children out of school can safely play and spend their time. We see teachers trained in physical education and parents, young people and other community members trained as coaches. We see our children growing up healthy, committed to family and friends, prepared for the workplace and the responsibilty of citizenship.”
For more Info:http://www.unicef.org/sports/index.html
Forget yourself for others, and others will never forget you.
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